Titanfall PC Loses Two Playlists

Titanfall's PC version is undergoing a major change. Respawn Entertainment has decided to remove the Capture the Flag and Pilot Hunter playlists from the multiplayer shooter.

"This has generated a lot of discussion with the PC community and we’d like to like to address your issues as openly as possible," Respawn said on Titanfall's official website. "We have an amazing and large PC audience with the vast majority of users predominantly playing Attrition and Hardpoints game modes. CTF and Pilot Hunter have not been widely used modes on the PC version. Players trying to access these modes had overlong wait times to find other users and it was making for a poor experience."

"We want to make sure that not only is there compelling content in the playlists we offer, but that the experience of joining a match works well. We’re tracking what playlists players are choosing, and we’re going to continue to look at unpopular playlists and add new ones on both platforms."

I'm not surprised that Pilot Hunter is relatively unpopular. It's basically just Attrition, the game's Team Deathmatch equivalent, except that killing bots doesn't count toward your team's score. The mode never appealed to me because it makes bots completely meaningless. Granted, the A.I. is dumb but if you're going to have them in the game, they might as well have some impact on the matches, you know?

Capture the Flag, though, really ought to have more players. CTF is a staple of multiplayer shooters. It's different enough from the other modes to be worth playing, too. The lack of CTF maps in the Campaign (Campaign matches are only Attrition or Hardpoint) might have hurt their player count, though. The campaign - and the pre-launch beta - established Attrition and Hardpoint as the game's "main" modes.

The total player population may have driven Respawn's decision as well. Titanfalltopped sales charts in March and April but the platform-by-platform breakdown of numbers is unclear. It might be that the PC version wasn't as widely adopted as its Xbox One or Xbox 360 counterparts.

Pilot Hunter and Capture the Flag can still be accessed through the Variety Pack playlist. These modes can also be played in Private Matches. Respawn says that no modes will ever be removed from Private Matches.

There's also a possibility that Pilot Hunter and Capture the Flag could make a comeback in some way. For example, Respawn may add temporary, experimental versions of these modes that put some twist on their usual rules. Pilot Hunter and CTF will also be considered for inclusion in future playlists. Respawn previously stated that new game modes and playlists will be free to download.

Titanfall's PC and Xbox One versions received the Expedition Map Pack this week. Unlike other DLC for the game, the map packs cost money. The Expedition DLC and the two future map packs are priced at $10 apiece.